Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Rode Bluetiful into work yesterday. Even though I haven't been able to commute, because of the need to tend to Hawkeye during my lunch hour, I thought that taking a "constitution ride," or a quick run to Starbucks, in the mornings and evenings every day would be enough biking time to keep my fitness level up.

It wasn't. On the last little upgrade before the parking lot of my office I was huffing and puffing and could hardly manage 12 mph! Going home was better, but my quads were sensitive for about a half hour after I finished.

Getting on The Roadley and taking a Tour de Starbucks yesterday evening was very easy, however, because the legs had recovered and felt very strong. The Brooks saddle is getting more and more comfortable, too.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

With the emotional roller coaster I was on with having to put our lovable old Labrador to sleep, it was good to have something to work on as sort of a therapy toy. My son brought his 2003 Specialized Hardrock mountain bike up from southern Arizona and gave it to me as sort of a belated Christmas present.

The bike is in fairly good shape. The rear brake was rubbing, a little lube on the pivot points, a bit more cable and a turn of the setscrew on the right-hand side fixed that.

The derailleurs were spectacularly out of adjustment. The front derailleur was mounted a bit too high and rotated in towards the bike too much. The B-screw on the rear derailleur was way out. Both limit screws on both derailleurs were set in too far, so much so that the rear cassette would not even shift to the largest sprocket and the large and small chainrings always rattled in the front derailleur cage. I spent a leisurely ten hours over two days just playing with the adjustments, going from front to back to front to back, fine tuning the shifting. A little lube on the pivot points and the chain and the drive train is nice and quiet now. Shifts pretty well, too.

There is a slight "tick" in the bottom bracket as the crank rotates, and some side-to-side play on the crank arms, but I'm a little leery of taking a wrench to tighten it. I think I'll ride by my favorite LBS one day and have them check it out.

This bike is going to be an errand runner, something I can leave locked up out in front of the supermarket, so I'm not going to be accessorizing it very much. The original saddle is not very comfortable, but fortunately I have the Specialized Expedition Plus saddle which was on The Roadley before I got the Brooks Flyer. And, of course, I have the Trekking handlebars which I bought as a present for my son for this bike. I added a Trek Flare 7/Ion 3 taillight/headlight combination just in case I get caught riding it after dark.

I'll be using my sling bag for carrying stuff. The seat stem clamp is quick release, so I can simply take that $50 Expedition Plus saddle with me when I leave it.

The Trek Flare 7 taillight is attached to the seat stem, so when I take the saddle it will go with it. I'm going to have to remember to unclip that Trek Ion 3 headlight and pop it into the sling bag, though, unlike I did on the errand in the picture above! (Probably want to remember to take my water bottle with me, also.)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

I knew, a long time ago, that this particular goodbye was going to be a hard one. My pets have always been special friends and when the time comes to send them on their way, whether because of illness or because the toll of age has removed most of their quality of life, it has always involved some tears for me and second guesses about whether I provided the very best life for them that I could.

Hawkeye was extra special, in so many ways. My wife and I came across him eight years ago, in 2002. We had just visited the new Humane Society No-Kill animal shelter in South Phoenix, just for something to do on a weekend but with no real intent on getting another pet. Our thirteen-year-old son was with us, and as we drove home he suggested we stop by the Arizona Animal Welfare League just to look around.

The Arizona Animal Welfare League was established years ago by a group of partners which include the actress Amanda Blake, who was Miss Kitty of television's Gunsmoke. It is a no-kill shelter and we had adopted a cat from there a year before. We drove over there, and as we walked down the sidewalk along a row of kennels, I had turned back to my wife to say something and saw her eyes light up. She pointed past me and exclaimed "Is that a yellow Lab?" I turned back. He was sitting just inside the door of the kennel, wearing the happy, tongue-filled grin I would become very familiar with over the course of his life. On a note taped to the door was "Hawkeye, yellow lab mix."

We requested a "meet and greet" session with him at the shelter's little open playground. As as my wife and I played with him, it took only a few minutes to realize we wanted to adopt him. I began to follow the shelter employee into the office to fill out the paperwork, and then turned back to see my son still playing with the big Lab out in the yard. The dog weighed over a hundred pounds, more than my son weighed at the time.

Sensing what I was thinking, the shelter employee smiled and said "If it was any other dog but than one, I would worry." That was the first of many instances which would confirm what a unique dog Hawkeye was. We took him home and he was immediately relaxed with our two cats. Later, when we adopted three more kittens from our front yard, whose mother had been killed by a pair of loose pit bulls, Hawkeye was almost like a big brother to them. They always played with him and were never afraid of him.

In all of the years he was with us my wife never heard him bark, and I heard him bark once: when he was startled by a lighting bolt which hit close to our house and let out with a single, surprised "Woof!" Whenever I came home from work, I would see his happy, panting face in the living room window, and he would be waiting just inside the front door, eager for me to play with him out in the backyard, or just be satisfied with my petting his big velvet ears if I was too tired to play.

About two years ago, he developed arthritis in his hips. The vet prescribed some medication, and he seemed to be okay, just slowed down a bit by the disease. Towards the end of 2009, he slowed down a lot and seemed to develop some additional problems. He developed hearing problems, and appeared to stagger every once in a while. Around Christmas, 2009, there were two instances when he slipped on the smooth floor and could not get back to his feet. He would have accidents in the house before my wife got home from work.

On January 12, 2010, we took him to the vet. The more he examined Hawkeye, the more tight lipped our longtime veterinarian became. Finally, he handed me Hawk's leash, sat down, and sighed.

He told us that Hawkeye had developed neuropathy, which, as I understand it means the nerves in his body are breaking down. "So," he said, "It's time. We can do it today, but if we don't do it today we should do it soon because he really is starting to suffer."

I almost did not hear anything else he said after "It's time." I told him that I needed to tell my son, so that he could make it up to Phoenix from his home in southern Arizona and we could have the whole family there.

On January 21, 2010, at 8 AM, my son, my wife and I brought Hawkeye into the same room where he had had his last examination. Our vet and his assistant put a nice blanket on the examination table and lifted Hawk up onto it. As our vet's assistant shaved his left rear leg and inserted a catheter, I wrapped my arms around him and put my lips close to his ear and told him how much I loved him and let him know he was more than just a good dog: he was the absolute best.

Our doctor came in with a large syringe filled with something pink. I turned back and put my cheek on top of Hawkeye's head. I could not think of anything else to say. I sensed, rather than actually saw, the vet fix the needle to the catheter and then put his stethoscope to Hawkeye's chest.

Hawkeye seemed to simply relax with a sigh, and a few moments later I heard the doctor say "He's gone, you all can stay as long as you like."

I've been trying to keep busy the last few days. I took two days off of work and have been puttering around the house. My son is going to be staying with us for a while to do some job hunting in Phoenix. He brought up his 2003 Specialized Hardrock mountain bike and gave it to me as a belated Christmas gift.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I received the Brooks Flyer saddle on Tuesday, 1/12/10. I treated it with Proofide and got it installed on The Roadley:

I had to raise the seat post up a bit because the profile of the Brooks is slightly lower than that of the Specialized Expedition Plus. The Specialized will be moved to a another bike I'm getting shortly (more on that in a future post).

I rode it twice yesterday, 1/13/10, for a total of a little over six miles. It certainly is different than the Specialized. The Specialized saddle is all synthetic, so it was cushy comfort right out of the box. Of course, as it wears, it breaks down and becomes less and less comfortable. I figure on the other bike I'll get about 2,000 to 3,000 more miles out of it before it's finished.

The design of the Brooks is to get more comfortable, supposedly, the more it is ridden. Because of the natural leather seat of the Brooks Flyer, it's pretty stiff right out of the box and needs to be broken in. Reports are that it takes about 400 miles before it's fully formed to your anatomy. I can say that until it is fully molded to my butt I will not be doing any extended rides on it.

I have to add, however, that whether it was by scientific study, or inventive inspiration, or trial and error, the people at Brooks seem to have mastered the design of the saddle shape: as I ride, my sit bones are resting in the exact spot they need to be in order for the leather to properly shape itself to me. That has never been the case with any of the mountain bike or road bike saddles I have ever ridden.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Sunday, 1/3/2010, I didn't use the car at all, but took advantage of every excuse I could find to put on the shorts and ride around in the 70° F weather! Took a couple of Tour de Starbucks rides during the day; took Bluetiful over to the bike shop to price some things; rode The Roadley over to PetCo and bungee corded a 16-pound bag of cat food to the rear rack.

Took a ride on Bluetiful in the morning. The weather looked pretty threatening so for the beer run in the afternoon I used The Roadley (Serfas Drifter tires inspire much more confidence on a trash strewn or wet road).

I have been intrigued by recumbent bicycles for a long time. Any seating position which doesn't require me to feel like a "bike rider on a stick" is very inviting. I have always been fascinated by the high tech appearance of them. And they simply really appeal to a certain rebel streak which still exists down deep inside of me.

We used to have several recumbent dealers in central Phoenix, but I guess the bad economy and the fact that recumbents are not a fast moving product has reduced it to one: Sun Cyclery on north 7th Street. In the fall of 2008, I went in to Sun Cyclery to begin looking. They carry samples of most of the major brands: RANS, Bacchetta, Sun, Lightning, Easy Racer and Cycle Genius. They also have a good selection of Long Wheelbase (LWB), Compact Long Wheelbase (CLWB) and Short Wheelbase (SWB) models to test ride.

I immediately started focusing on LWB models, for a number of reasons. I wasn't sure how I would "take" to recumbent riding, and it became obvious from the start that a LWB recumbent would be one of the easiest to ride and therefore would offer the most positive experience for a new rider. CLWB recumbents are actually more like semi-recumbents than full recumbent bikes; they usually have saddles which put you into a more upright position and give some lower back support, but they do not have the laid back, reclined webbed seat or formed seat that is one of the things which attracted me to recumbents in the first place.

The candidates were quickly reduced to two: The Cycle Genius Falcon LS and the Sun EZ Sport CX. The configuration of the two bikes is very similar. Both have a 26" rear wheel and a 20" front wheel. Both have V-Brakes and the same level of other components. And they are the identical MSRP price: $1,100.

I really like the Falcon LS. It has an aluminum frame, which makes it lighter than the EZ Sport CX. It is the same frame as the Cycle Genius Raven and the regular Falcon, which means you can customize the LS in a myriad of ways by upgrading to the components of those other two bikes. The Raven comes with dual 700c wheels, which makes it the fastest bike in the Cycle Genius line. The regular Falcon comes with disk brakes and dual 26" wheels, which make it a little more stable than the LS at high speeds and the ideal touring and commuting bike.

I was ready to buy the Falcon LS, but then we had some family medical financial issues related to our own challenges in the miserable economy and the purchase of a new bike was out of the question. My recumbent riding venture was put on indefinite hold.

After the holidays, and we had completed our 2008 taxes in late January, the financial picture looked a bit better. I once more started looking at recumbents, but with a big difference: my budget for a bike had been reduced to $1,000 or less. This would appear to eliminate both the EZ Sport and the Falcon. I could go to a used bike but I wanted something which, if I experienced problems, I could take into the dealer and get fixed under warranty. Although I am a pretty handy general mechanic, I do not have the equipment or tools to work with derailleur systems and the other special components of bicycles.

Then, at the beginning of February, 2009, came a big break. The bike shop I have gone to for years, The Bike Barn, also sells Sun recumbents. They had a new, 2008 model EZ Sport CX sitting in their shop, at a 10 percent discount. They have always given me an additional discount, no matter what, so I could walk out of the store with the bike for around $950. Although the EZ Sport had not been my first candidate, this was a great deal, and the EZ Sport did have a certain, desirable quality which I'll get to a little bit later.

I had also set aside two hundred dollars for options, which was not included in my base budget. I bought a Blackburn Voyager 3.3/Mars 3.0 headlight/taillight combination package, a Specialized SpeedZone wireless computer, a Serfas Big Stick mini pump, a couple of standard bottle cages, a Sunlite Tubular seat bag, a Zéfal rear rack and a Jandd Rack Pack II. I went slightly over that two hundred dollar accessory budget with that Rack Pack bag, but I had discovered my Jandd Economy Panniers did not hold all the stuff I wanted to take on my commutes.

I took the EZ Sport home, rode it around for a couple of hours, discovered I thoroughly enjoyed it, showed it with pride to my wife when she got home, got thoroughly chewed out, and the next week I started commuting to work on the bike.
The first thing I noticed was that everyone saw the bike, and any concerns I had about visibility were groundless. Kids yell out "Nice bike, mister!" Cars give the Sport a really wide berth, much more than the three feet required by Arizona law. Pedestrians at intersections come up to me and ask me all kinds of questions about the bike.

Although the recumbent is not difficult to ride, it is a very different riding experience and requires different riding techniques. When I first started riding it, I found that I got the low speed "wobblies" at a much higher speed than on an upright bike. Starting out from a standing stop was very wobbly also, but I discovered a way to start which eliminates that, and I believe I wobble even less on a recumbent start now than I do on an upright bike. The key is to have the bike in a pretty low gear, use my strong right leg against the pedal to get moving, and then supplement the starting speed by kicking off with my left foot on the ground in much the same way a skateboarder kicks off with his power foot. Start ups are very quick using this technique.

Another aspect of the 'bent riding experience is the confidence of the low, laid back riding position. I felt so confident that I purchased an accessory I would never purchase for an upright bicycle: clipless pedals. My 1986 Batavus Course had come with clip pedals, and perched up in the seat I found them very awkward to use. I couldn't imagine using clipless pedals in that position; I could just imagine not being able to release the shoe from the pedal and plummeting down from that high perch. I bought Shimano SPD mountain bike pedals with the cleat receivers on one side and a platform on the other; in this way I can hop on the bike and ride with my regular shoes rather than having to stop to put on the shoes with the SPD cleats.
That high position of a conventional bike is also a disadvantage in a headwind. I've read that sometimes about ninety percent of your energy on a regular bike is spent fighting the wind, and that the lower riding position of a recumbent saves up to thirty percent of that effort. I can testify that when the road goes slightly uphill into a headwind, even with a fully loaded EZ Sport I can keep up with all but the fastest road bike riders.

Some people have expressed a concern about the inability of a recumbent rider to see over other vehicles is a drawback of the design. I have to say I had the same concern when I first started riding, but no longer. I have not come across a single situation where not being able to see over an obstacle imperiled my safety.

In the months since I bought the EZ Sport, I have added a handlebar bag, a handlebar mount for my Garmin eTrex Legend GPS unit and some other items. The accessories are profiled in a post on my blog at The Complete Bluetiful.

Oh, and as far as what that special, desirable quality the EZ Sport Bluetiful has? It goes back to when I was a kid, and wanted a Schwinn Stingray. My parents could not afford it, so I had to ride a staid, 3-speed diamond frame bike. When the late Gardner Martin designed the EZ Sport, he purposely gave it a unique, classy, retro look. If you look at it just right, it looks like an adult Schwinn Stingray, so I get to have the cruiser bike I was denied as a kid.